UP govt fully prepared for drought-like situations: Akhilesh Yadav

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, on Wednesday, said that the UP government is fully prepared to deal with any eventuality of drought-like situations in some districts of the state, and has also sent a report to the Centre about the same.

“We have apprised the Centre about scanty rainfall and possibility of drought in some districts of the state,” Akhilesh said.

The chief minister said this in on the sidelines of a function to flag off 300 air-conditioned ambulances in the state capital on Wednesday.

“We are doing whatever can be done and hope that the Centre too would also help us in it”, he said, adding that preparations are on to deal with the situation.

Akhilesh, who is currently in news over purchase of luxury vehicles for his fleet, at the cost of budget of the state women’s commission, dismissed media reports in this regard.

“There is no downsizing of the budget for the state women commission and you can enquire into it”, he said. “The new vehicles in my fleet were purchased after the old ones were worn out, and this happened six months ago… you ought to have asked this then,” he said.

The chief minister refused to comment on scribe Ved Pratap Vaidik’s controversial meeting with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed in Pakistan, saying Parliament is going on and the party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has already made the view of the party clear on the issue.

On the occasion, Akhilesh while flagging off the 300 ambulances, as part of a national ambulance service said, UP is the first state in the country to have such a big number of ambulances for the poor and needy people.

Lauding the works being undertaken by the medical and health department in the past over two years, he said, because of this the health parameter of the state has improved.

Yadav said that this service besides making health services accessible to the people in far off and remote places would also provide employment to the youth.